The present invention relates to an ankle brace comprising a flexible main body that is designed to surround a human leg in the area of the ankle from the lower leg to the midfoot, wherein the main body comprises a medial section, a lateral section, a sole section having a lateral and medial side, and an arch and instep section, wherein the medial section is provided to contact the medial side, the lateral section is provided to contact the lateral side, the sole section is provided to contact the sole, and the arch and instep section is provided to contact the arch and/or instep of the foot, and having a fixing belt that can be wound around the main body, which has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the fixing belt is connected to the lateral section of the main body, and the second end is connected to the medial section of the main body adjacent its top end, and wherein the fixing belt is movably guided around the main body such that the first end of the fixing belt proceeds starting from the lateral section over the arch and instep section to the medial side of the sole section, across the sole section to the lateral side of the sole section, across the arch and instep section, and on to the top end of the medial section.
Ankle braces are used in the field of orthopedic therapy to stabilize and correct the position of the foot relative to the lower leg. The lateral section (pronation) or the medial section (supination) of the foot is frequently lifted to correct this position Ankle braces can be used, for example, to treat torn or sprained ligaments in the ankle.
An ankle brace is known from the prior art, such as U.S. 2007/0049857 on which the present invention is based, in which a fixing belt is firmly connected to the sole section of the main body. Furthermore, the first end of the fixing belt is releasably connected to the lateral section, and its second end is releasably connected to the medial section of the main body adjacent its top end. The releasable connections are created by hook-and-loop fasteners.
A releasable hook-and-loop connection always yields somewhat, however, when the fixing belt is pretensioned, for example, to adjust the pronation or supination. It is impossible to permanently set a precise degree of pronation or supination when the end of the fixing belt opposite the end at which initial tension is introduced is connected to the main body in a yielding manner and not fixedly, and the connection is therefore unable to withstand constant opposing force. Such a connection at both ends of the fixing belt has therefore proven to be disadvantageous.
Furthermore, the fixing belt cannot be completely released from the main body, which can cause unnecessary difficulty or effort for the user the next time the ankle brace is put on.
The fact that the fixing belt is permanently attached to the sole section of the main body is disadvantageous in that the fixing belt cannot be moved freely along the sole section to search for an individual optimum position. In addition, the fact that the fixing belt is permanently connected to the sole section causes the main body to twist or shift relative to the foot surrounded by the main body when the initial tension applied to the first and second end is not equivalent. Pronation or supination cannot be effectively adjusted. In addition, the user must adjust the initial tension at two ends of the fixing belt and adjust them in relation to each other, if necessary, which makes putting on the ankle brace complicated.
From all of the above, it is clear that the brace according to U.S. 2007/0049857 can immobilize the foot joint but cannot correct the position of the bones relative to each other.
An ankle brace is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,486 with two fixing belts that are attached in the heel area of a main body, wherein the first belt initially proceeds along the lateral section of the main body, then over the arch to the medial side and below the sole section, and finally is releasably attached to the lateral side. The second belt proceeds across the medial section, then over the arch to the lateral side, and finally below the sole section back to the medial side to which it can also be releasably attached.
The position of the bones in the area of the ankle also cannot be corrected with this brace; the ankle can also only be immobilized. In this case as well, the pronation or supination cannot be adjusted by the path of the belt.
Starting from the prior art, it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an ankle brace that makes it possible to set a precise degree of pronation or supination in a particularly simple way and thereby be very comfortable to wear.